Friday, September 15, 2006

RAPTURE ,ENDTIMES, The BUSH REGIME & EVANGELICAL FUNDAMENTALISTS

RAPTUREREADYNEWS.COM & Rapture Index The prophetic speedometer of end-time activity "... In the United States, several million people have succumbed to an extraordinary delusion. In the 19th century, two immigrant preachers cobbled together a series of unrelated passages from the Bible to create what appears to be a consistent narrative: Jesus will return to Earth when certain preconditions have been met. The first of these was the establishment of a state of Israel. The next involves Israel's occupation of the rest of its "biblical lands" (most of the Middle East), and the rebuilding of the Third Temple on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques. The legions of the antichrist will then be deployed against Israel, and their war will lead to a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. The Jews will either burn or convert to Christianity, and the Messiah will return to Earth. �"(FROM ARTICLE: Trying To Force The Rapture By Johnathan Richards http://www.rense.com/9-12-5 )BUSH & THE RAPTURE FROM SATIRICAL WEBSITE WWW.ALLHATNOCATTLE.COM

"God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East." —George W. BushPat Robertson claimed on his TV show "The 700 Club," that Katrina was probably God's way of showing wrath for all the sexual promiscuity going on in New Orleans.

JACK-BOOTED CONDI : Condoleezza Rice stated in a church in Louisiana after Katrina hit, the hurricane was a good thing, "it meant Jesus was coming soon.""The Lord is going to come on time - if we just wait"Condoleeza Rice

"But I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante. I think it would be a mistake. What we're seeing here, in a sense, is the growing -- the birth pangs of a new Middle East."Condoleeza Rice July 21, 2006

And as a commentator on the Democratic Underground website & forum says:– “ What a strange way to describe such extreme human suffering and violence. Then again, it turns out our Secretary of State isn't the only one to use "birth pangs" in such an interesting way. "Birth pangs" is a common term among End Timers to describe the turmoil that precedes the tribulation and rapture supposedly foretold by biblical prophecy:”

From article & discussion at Democratic Underground.ComOMG! Condi Rice's "Birth Pangs" is a freakin' Rapture reference!http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard"God will destroy this earth that is so marred and cursed by Satan's evil."REVEREND TIM LAHAYE RON LUCE OF BATTLECRY.COM : SCARE MONGERING PROPAGANDIST FOR THE RADICAL RELIGIOUS RIGHT USING OVERT MILITANT RHETORIC ALL PHOTOS Posted by Picasa

Anyway here are a few items as food for thought as it were:

as Bill Moyers of PBS points out in his series of articles on the religious right:

“ I am not suggesting that fundamentalists are running the government, but they constitute a significant force in the coalition that now holds a monopoly of power in Washington under a Republican Party that for a generation has been moved steadily to the right by its more extreme variants even as it has become more and more beholden to the corporations that finance it. One is foolish to think that their bizarre ideas do not matter. I have no idea what President Bush thinks of the fundamentalists' fantastical theology, but he would not be president without them. He suffuses his language with images and metaphors they appreciate, and they were bound to say amen when Bob Woodward reported that the President "was casting his vision, and that of the country, in the grand vision of God's master plan."’

Welcome to Doomsday. Never!Volume 52, Number 5 ? March 24, 2005http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17852Welcome to Doomsday By Bill Moyers

At 47, she is the stern but cautious driver behind America's foreign policy, the first female and the second African American (after Colin Powell) to serve as national security adviser to the president, and a committed Christian who unabashedly talks about her dependence on God.

Being a "deeply religious person" has helped Rice rise to the challenge of serving a nation that has been shaken to its foundations by terrorism and international conflict. And that has meant turning frequently to prayer—and not the kind laced with a "laundry lists of requests." When she needs "guidance and strength of conviction," says Rice, she often reads Romans 5, "which essentially says, Glory also in tribulation, because tribulation breeds perseverance and perseverance patience, and with patience comes hope. And hope is never disappointed, because of faith in the glory of God."

"When I'm concerned about something, I figure out a plan of action, and then I give it to God," she told Essence magazine earlier this year. "I just ask to be carried through it. God's never failed me yet."

And there is further evidence that the Bush Regime seeks out advice from Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians on various domestic issues & international affairs:As reported in an article in The Village Voice in May of 2004 by Rick Perlstein“The Jesus Landing Pad ”that the "Bush White House checked with rapture Christians before latest Israel move "by Rick PerlsteinMay 18th, 2004http://www.villagevoice.com/

...“that there is hard evidence of "White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that "the Presidents [sic] Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level" ...the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios.”

Canadian theologian & journalist Tom Harpur in an article " Rapture Awaits in the Florida Panhandle " describes a trip he took to Florida in 2005 where he attended a conference of Evangelical Fundamentalists :

As Tom Harpur comments :

“ At first impression, the religious scene in this Bible Belt terrain is upbeat, vigorous, prospering in numbers, properties, and outspoken leadership. There is an agenda both spiritual and political as well as the people and money to make it happen. But, when you pay close attention to the message being driven home by every possible technical medium and skill, you meet some deeply disturbing, even frightening realities.

The theme of the day was Left Behind: A Conference on Biblical Prophecy about End Times, and it featured three of the leading voices in the U.S religious right today: Tim LaHaye, Gary Frazier, and Ed Hindson.

And as he continues-

“ I have never heard so much venom and dangerous ignorance spouted before an utterly unquestioning, otherwise normal-looking crowd in my life.... There were stunning statements about humans having been only 6,000 years on Earth and other denials of contemporary geology and biology. And we learned that the Rapture, which could happen any second now, but certainly within the next 40 years, will instantly sweep all the "saved" Americans (perhaps one-half the population) to heaven....

But these fantasies were harmless compared with the hatred against Islam that followed. Here are some direct quotes: "Islam is an intolerant religion-and it's clear whose side we should be on in the Middle East." Applause greeted these words: "Allah and Jehovah are not the same God.... Islam is a Satanic religion.... They're going to attack Israel for certain...." Gary Frazier shouted at the top of his lungs: "Wake Up! Wake Up!" And roughly eight hundred heads (at $25.00 per) nodded approval as he added that the left-wing, anti-Israel media-"for example, CNN"-will never tell the world the truth about Islam. According to these three, and the millions of Americans they lead, Muslims intend ultimately "to impose their religion on us all."

( Published on Saturday, February 12, 2005 by the Toronto StarRapture Awaits in the Florida Panhandleby Tom Harpur & can be found at websiteCommon Dreams NewsCenterhttp://www.commondreams.org)

The sort of fervor & rhetoric & deeply held belief that we are living in the End Times as Prophesied according to them in The Book Of Revelations & those gleaned from other parts of the Bible helps explain how the Bush Regime can resort to the use & invention of a term like “ Islamo-Fascism” & how they could justify invading Iraq & promote Israel’s War on Lebanon & its on-going human rights abuses of Palestinians in the occupied territories & throughout Israel.